Friday, July 28, 2017

I had left this untitled? Yet so much beauty abounds.Grateful.

It worked..it is SUNNY today!

And the rain pelted for and entire night and day..the gardens were left in disarray..much to my dismay..Ok too poetic..a mess..hosta blooms knocked down..tomatoes engorged with water ..not sun nor warmth..I communicated w/ my Smurf seed purveyor and she attests a bad year so far for tomatoes..bounty may be late September..they need the latter two things to turn..warmth and sun..A lot of the gardens are finished already:(Why why why why why..is this year's summer Jetsoning by?Today is nice and I will clean up places..that look tired..Jacques will mow..The dinner plate dahlias..are definitely not dinner plates..and not really my colors..but that's all they had:(I cleaned all the garlic yesterday afternoon..quite a sight..we love it's perfume in the house..I cut the roots and stem..and gently rub to clean.End of Oct I will plant..and the cycle starts again as long as I can.I have saved one basket of 25 bulbs to plant which should give me a little over 100 next yr again God willing.We eat it ALL.We had a lovely visit yesterday..I need time to write about it and not hurry the memory along.Next post I hope.We are celebratingAdamo's 18th birthday this weekend and Giuliana's 16th.I am repeating myself endlessly..but talk about speed of light .These two are such lovely young adults♥I made a rolled carrot cake for Jacques..next time I will grate my carrots smaller..I used my mom's hand crank grater that I LOVE:)But it made the cake extra moist..You can find the recipe many places..in French at Isa's place and in English here.Fun instead of a BIG cake:)Thank you both for inspiring me to make this cake.

61 comments:

Well, it all looks good even with the rain. My echinacea is on the wane and I thought I remembered them lasting longer last summer. My husband's tomatoes at the farm did very well, but turned out mealy, kind of like the ones in winter at the grocery store. Those teeny little balls inside. I don't know what caused it but I'm sure it must have had something to do with the weather. I have one Cherokee Purple tomato plant at the city house and I sure hope to get a few. It isn't looking likely. I love my cakes as moist as can be so I would love that torte. Have a good weekend, dear.

Have a good one too!Remeber your little wood message box and I mantioned I had one at one house but I had a vague recollection of another?Or maybe I didn't tell you that but I did get that feeling..turns out I was right:)I will tell you ..it has to do with the visit..Today is a heaven sent day.We did a system restore on grass and gardens and the girls ran wild:)You should see them run after me when I have a Kraft Single in my hand:)Me the wannabe food blogger and my girls lice Kraft cheese slices;)

Yay for the sun! We're in for a stretch of five sunshiny days finally. The rain was a blessing at the farmers market yesterday. For the time time ever, I found.a parking spot. They are usually taken and I have to circle for 15 minutes...lol. Hope you have a perfect weekend.

Dear Nana, around here the sun shines and it's really hot. I would love a bit of all that rain of yours.The rolled carrot cake seems to be delicious! Next I intend to visit both blogs you mentioned.I wish you a sunny happy weekend.BisousNina

Every photo is a treasure! So beautiful. I have this image of people just coming by your garden and stopping to take photos! What a haven. And your carrot cakes looks divine. And it looks much like the pumpkin rolls I used to make every year (for sale, five dozen of them... took forever!). Cream cheese inside and a pumpkin bread in a roll. Yum. I'd love the carrot cake! Beautiful!

Oh, the rolled cake looks fabulous. I want to try that. I made a rolled goat cheese and fig appetizer on Tuesday. I will share the recipe. It is easy and oh so delicious. We could use your rain. The heat is zapping much in the garden. Three more days of 100+ temps for the weekend. ;-(

Oh I hear you re heat always..poor gardens for you..yet the photos I see always looks so beautiful:)Looking forward to your recipe..:) I found the BP journal..I had inquired about it 11 months ago and the girl and I never met up..amd meeting her next week,,so I hope you win SB's journal!

Your gardens are so beautiful Monique! And I can see your handiwork peeking out from beneath the garlic! C' est si bon!! Tres tres belle! All do it and I love the cake roll. I must bookmark that to try myself. Todd loves carrot cake, but a whole cake is too much for us! As usual your presentation of all things is impeccable! I admire you for that. Takes patience and so much talent which you have in spades! Bonne weekend! Xoxo

Oh sweetie..if you only knew ..I do have patience ..so much!!It is a trait that would be on my tombstone if I was to have one and I'm not..but patience would be the engraved virtue..

but for pics and posting..it's immediate..click click transfer..some sharpening..editing..but for the actual taking pics..I rarely set up..when I do?=fail lol.

I was just wrapping a gift w/ this paper..so it's wrapping paper..beneath the cake..the little tea strainer/sifter is always out..and since my eggs are fresh..they are out too..not all.. 6 at a time:)Thank you Marie:)

From what I see, your dahlia looks pretty. My goodness you have grown a lot of garlic and it looks so nice. After our pig roast I will clean mine up. Do you plant in the same place? I have these last few years but read not to do that. Space is limited. I have already ordered German extra hardy for next year. My harvest produced small cloves. Have your girls left your radishes alone? I'll plant my flashback mix calendula too after the pig roast. I was disappointed in the size of my flowers on the other calendula. Next year I'll stick to just them. The carrot roll looks very good. Did you bake the French recipe, it looks a bit more like yours. I made Sally's Baking Addiction funfetti sugar cookies and they will be used for ice cream sandwiches (which she did). You should go look, I think even the boys would enjoy them. I know Katherine will. Do you know the other day she talked about my reindeer chocolate cookies? I guess we made them at Christmas time and they made an impression on her. I can't remember what recipe I used! when it comes to cookies she sure does not forget a thing

I have planted my garlic in the same places in 2 places..the small raised bed and a tiny patch..this was the first yr I planted in a larger patch where we ripped out all the hydrangeas..ap 8 x 8..so now it looks BARE..I have one tomato plant..in that patch..so I can tell you next yr..if it was a bad idea to plant there again..it's a good garlic spot hope it keeps being good..I have left 2 borage seedlings as they say Borage is good for the earth..next yr..more borage will be in a few perennial bedes..

I thought both recipes were identical:)I guess I skimmed..like I always skim recipes..sometimes not a great thing! I used the English one..I'll go look at the funfettis..honestly the boys have not been here at all:( Too busy..today..party..everyone..we see everyone ..but all the parties..lol..

we are dust in the wind this summer.Dahlias are Provence red and yellow..and not dinner plate..oh well they will make me happy..

The girls want to eat the radish seedings I think..they jump on the raised bed.I shoo them off..lol..My white German produced nice big ones..not quite as big as planted..I just came back from the market one lady had beautiful garlic but she was busy chatting..I might have bought a couple;)

Thanks Monique for clarifying which recipe you used. Makes it easier for me when it is in English. I'll be pinning that for future reference. Maybe your son in law will give you some of his compost to add to the soil of the garlic bed.

This past Thursday we had to drive across the city to a friend's home for dinner and drove in torrential rain. Scary on the freeway! We are in a dry spell now also and hopefully the big tomatoes will start to ripen. Picked a few cherry tomatoes and also a few patio tomatoes. I want a BLT with a nice, big tomato though :) Beautiful photos, Monique! I hope it stays dry for you a bit also so you can take more pretty photos. The cake looks wonderful! Summer is flying and fingers crossed for a beautiful and bountiful August. I want some cake! Will look at your links after I hit Publish :)

WE have hit torrential rains in Fl..scary is right..you cannot see a thing..there could be a truck on your front fender:(I cringe thking about it..glad you were safe and sound my friend.So glad.:)Have a great day!

Beautiful! So verdant and lovely.🌸 I've just arrived back at the house in the desert. Monsoon rains have made everything green and in full bloom! It was such a long drive for me yesterday, but I was rewarded by the most amazing vistas. A sea of green on the desert floor against a backdrop of dark stormy skies, Bougainvillea - a mass of color against the stone wall around the house. Sometimes, I think we should consider a condo, as I get older and the garden seems to be too much work. Moments like these, make me realize I would miss my garden too much!

Your photos are STUNNING. The cake looks wonderful too. I didn't plant a garden this year after the critters ate all my tomatoes. Never could get one ripe enough to eat, they beat me to them. Even though we had rain, everything looks not so good. Probably from to much drought. I am still careful with water usage - time will tell.

Dearest Monique,It looks like we all got plenty of rain this summer... It is good for some shrubs and trees but can be hard on certain, long-stemmed flowers!Always love your poetry in photography...Hugs,Mariette

It feels like yesterday was July 1st and now it is August tomorrow, I so badly wish it would slow down. I just love your garden pics especially the Daylily, so pretty. I just put up a new blog post about moving over to Facebook and posting one pic a day, I hope you can follow me over there, I'm pretty excited about it. Hope your week is off to a good start...

Monique, your photography skills are amazing... along with gardening, cooking, painting, loving your family so well. Inspiring. Love. Love. Love. to see your photos. Interesting how each of us have been experiencing the "speed of light" with the passing of time. How quickly they grow up. Carrot cake is one of my favorites! But, I have so many. Ha! And, it shows. I hope your tomatoes surprise you and have delicious offerings. blessings and hugs ~ tanna

Oh my goodness....that cake looks delightful....so moist! Jacques is a lucky man!My Hosta blooms were all blown sideways! I love the white blooms later in August.Your Garlic looks beautiful...and I should know! 💕Sorry I am so late getting here...been kinda hectic over here.Lovely photos Monique...Waiting to hear your story about the weekend.Cheers!Linda :o)